RRND Email Full Text (Scheduled)

  • US national parks announce “America-first” fee surges for international tourists

    Source: CNN

    “International tourists visiting popular national parks in the US next year will be required to pay additional fees and raised rates on annual passes, the US Department of the Interior announced Tuesday. In a statement hailing a new ‘resident-focused fee structure that puts American families first,’ the department said as of January 1, 2026, the annual pass will cost non-US residents $250 to obtain, more than triple the standard $80 which US residents will continue to pay. Foreign tourists who don’t purchase the pass will pay a $100-per-person fee, in addition to the standard entrance fee, to enter 11 of the most visited national parks, including the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone and Yosemite, the statement said. … This announced price hike comes amid a decline in international tourism to the US, fueled by changes to tariff policies and crackdowns on immigration.” (12/26/25)

    https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/26/travel/us-national-park-foreign-fees-tourism-hnk

  • EU Parliament Pushes for Age Limits on Social Media

    Source: US News & World Report

    “The European Parliament called on Wednesday for the European Union to set minimum ages for children to access social media, to combat a rise in mental health problems among adolescents from excessive exposure. The call, which is not binding, comes as Australia is poised to institute the world’s first social media ban for children younger than 16 and as Denmark and Malaysia also plan bans. French President Emmanuel Macron has previously called for EU regulation to ban social media for children under 15, although it is not quite clear how the EU would carry this out, given it is up to individual EU members to impose age limits. Parliament’s resolution, backed by 483 votes to 92, with 86 abstentions, called for an EU-wide ban on access for children under 16 to online platforms, video-sharing sites and AI companions without parental consent and an outright ban for those younger than 13.” [editor’s note: It’s not about protecting kids, it’s about protecting themselves. They’re desperate to stop kids from finding out things / having ideas the political class would rather they didn’t know / think – TLK] (11/26/25)

    https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-11-26/eu-parliament-pushes-for-age-limits-on-social-media-to-safeguard-minors


  • Giving Thanks for Our Blessings Means Saying “No Thanks” to Police State Tyranny

    Source: CounterPunch
    by John W Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead

    “The contrast between George Washington’s first Thanksgiving proclamation and the state of the nation today reveals how far we have drifted — and how low we have fallen — since Washington called upon early Americans (a nation of immigrants) to give thanks for a government that protected their safety and happiness, and for a Constitution designed to safeguard civil and religious liberty. But how do you give thanks for freedoms that are constantly being eroded? How do you express gratitude for one’s safety when the perils posed by the American police state grow more treacherous by the day? How do you come together as a nation in thanksgiving when the powers-that-be continue to polarize and divide us into warring factions?” (11/26/25)

    https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/11/26/giving-thanks-for-our-blessings-means-saying-no-thanks-to-police-state-tyranny/

  • Reject the Rage-Bait This Thanksgiving

    Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
    by Karl Dickey

    “We should be able to have conversations about politics (which, BTW, is force), while understanding we are having a voluntary dinner together with family and/or friends. Tomorrow, the family or friend sitting across from you may have voted for the ‘wrong’ candidate, but likely agrees with you that violence is bad, that kindness is good, and that they just want to be left alone to flourish.” (11/26/25)

    https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/reject-the-rage-bait-this-thanksgiving

  • How ICE Is Watching Your Thanksgiving Drive

    Source: Reason
    by Matthew Petti

    “Do you have a long drive home after your family feast this week? The feds might be watching you. Recent reporting from the Associated Press and 404 Media reveals just how thorough federal surveillance of the highways has gotten, especially from immigration authorities. … remember, if you’re traveling by car for the holidays, you may be driving under the watchful eye of Uncle Sam. Just hope that he doesn’t find your travel plans suspicious.” (11/26/25)

    https://reason.com/2025/11/26/how-ice-is-watching-your-thanksgiving-drive/

  • The Top 10 Reasons to Be Thankful in 2025

    Source: Foreign Policy
    by Stephen M Walt

    “I’ve been extraordinarily blessed since birth, and I’m grateful for all the favorable bounces I’ve had. But in times like these, when it sometimes seems like events are spiraling downward and the worst people have more and more power and are using it just as badly as you’d expect, it’s especially important to take solace in whatever positive signs we can discern.” (11/26/25)

    https://archive.is/0JIsF

  • This Thanksgiving, We’re Being Served “Fake China Threats”

    Source: Libertarian Institute
    by Joseph Solis-Mullen

    “As a long-time critic of Washington’s obsession with the so-called ‘China threat’ — and having written an entire book debunking it, The Fake China Threat — I could not in good conscience allow this year’s Report to Congress of the U.S. — China Economic and Security Review Commission — to pass without comment. If anything, the 2025 edition is an even more sweeping reiteration of the assumptions and exaggerations I have challenged for years. Page after page, the report presents an alarming narrative about Beijing’s intentions and capabilities, while simultaneously insisting that every corner of the globe — and every sector of American life — now constitutes a frontline in a zero-sum geopolitical struggle.” (11/26/25)

    https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/this-thanksgiving-were-being-served-fake-china-threats